Does no-fly jurisdiction area include airports?

The Centre is holding deliberations on whether the proposed no-fly list for unruly passengers will be applicable for a misdemeanour within an aircraft or at the airport premises as well, a senior civil aviation ministry official said on Wednesday.

"We need to decide the boundary of the no-fly list. While inside a flight you don't have access to security, at counters you do. If there are acts of vandalism inside the airport then there are provisions under the Indian Penal Code to deal with those incidents," the official, who did not want to be identified, told a group of reporters here.

In its draft rules, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has recommended three levels of unruly behaviours on the basis of their severity.

These can carry a fly ban of three months, six months or upto an indefinite period.

The official also said that once the boundary or the jurisdiction area of the no-fly list has been decided, there will also be a need to sensitise crew members on when and where the provision to bar a passenger will apply.

"We need to ensure that a no-fly list is not used arbitrarily. After all, the initial decision to ban the passenger will be that of the airline before it is deliberated upon by a committee constituted by it," the official added. According to the draft rules made public in May, immediately after an act of misdemeanour by a passenger an airline can ban the passenger from flying with it for ten days.

Within these ten days, a committee constituted by the airline will deliberate on the matter and give its decision on whether to bar a passenger and for how long.

Earlier on Tuesday, Union minister Jayant Sinha said that the government is working on creating a national 'no-fly list' which will apply to all citizens, irrespective of their "position" in society.

To a question on bilateral connectivity with other countries, Sinha said, "We will sort out the issues on bilateral connectivity and see which countries we can connect within the bilateral agreements. There have to be modifications within these agreements. We will look into it."

The No Fly List is a list created and maintained by the government of people who are prohibited from boarding commercial aircraft for travel.

House panel will ask Air India to explain decision on non-veg food

A Parliamentary panel on Wednesday raised concerns over Air India's decision to stop serving non- vegetarian food to economy class passengers on domestic flights and would seek an explanation from the airline on the measure.

The matter was discussed at the meeting of the department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture on Wednesday.

"The issue of Air India deciding not to serve non- vegetarian food for economy class passengers on its domestic flights was raised during the meeting today (Wednesday," panel member and Congress leader K C Venugopal said.

"The panel will seek an explanation from Air India as to on what basis such a decision was taken," he said after the meeting.

Venugopal had also served as minister of state for civil aviation in the previous UPA regime. As part of cost cutting measures, loss-making Air India has stopped serving non-vegetarian food to passengers travelling in the economy class on its domestic flights.